The best things to do in Sydney this weekend

Winter is well and truly here. The shortest day of the year has come and gone, and temperatures are oscillating between beach-worthy and sub-Antarctic. If you want to embrace festive energy this winter, we’ve got just the thing.  Sydney’s beloved Christmas in July Festival will be coming back to The Rocks this July, this time with a magical alfresco cinema, more than 80 twinkling Christmas trees, a European-style winter market and a laneway with real falling snow. The Rocks Christmas in July Festival has transformed the harbour-side precinct in the past, but this year, the program is stepping up its game – with the beloved winter markets back and better than ever, and some super special new additions. The key addition to the festival for this year is the Fire Pit Cinema, a first-of-its-kind winter open-air cinema experience. Here, guests will get to watch classic Christmas movies next to cosy private fire pits while roasting marshmallows and getting giddy on mulled wine and festive vibes. Book a fire pit for yourself and your friends and snuggle up under the blankets with a steaming hot chocolate for a cinematic night under the stars.  On the food front, the market will be home to more than 20 pop-up restaurants serving up your favourite European winter fare: everything from melted raclette to golden schnitzels and sugar-dusted crêpes.  Alongside the cinema and markets, Sydneysiders can expect to find a laneway laced with falling snow, and The Rocks will be illuminated by...

Winter is well and truly here, and if you needed a reason to leave the warmth of your home, we’ve got you. This June and July, South Eveleigh will be transformed into a winter wonderland with its brand new offering, Loco Markets. Inspired by the charm of European street markets, Loco will have a rotating lineup of themed nights, live entertainment, artisan stalls selling handmade goods, delicious food and drink, and family fun from June 19 until July 27. Yes, that’s every Thursday to Sunday for six glorious weeks.  What’s more, each week is a fresh experience with new themes to keep you coming back. The music has been curated by ARIA-nominated Stu Hunter to match each week’s theme, and there will be kid-friendly activities like face painting and creative workshops. Entry is free, though some workshops require bookings. Here’s what’s on each week: Artisan Design (June 19–22)Kick things off with bath bomb workshops, live cartoonists and jazz harp performances. Shop 3D-printed gifts from Mewse, playful cardboard costumes by Paper Pops, and stunning jewellery from Stof Studios. Produce & Wellness (June 26–29)Get your glow on with seasonal produce and health products. Don’t miss natural skincare by Stori of Africa, wholesome foods from Soka Pantry, and tea-based wine alternatives by Junco Drinks. Design & Sustainability (July 3–6)Celebrate slow fashion, botanical beauty and sing-along art workshops. Market picks include earthenware from Ignem Terrae Ceramics, sustainable style...

Sydney is one of the most photographed cities in the world - so it’s only fitting that it’s playing host to a groundbreaking new festival dedicated to visual storytelling. Whether you're behind the lens or in front of it, Frmefest is the creative summit photographers, filmmakers and content creators have been waiting for. Teaming up with presenting partner Canon Australia, the inaugural Frmefest will take over Carriageworks on July 19-20, bringing two jam-packed days of more than 40 leading speakers, 60 hands-on workshops, and 22 brand activations dedicated to the creative industry. Across the two days you can hear from leading voices on the main stage, including global communication coach Vinh Giang and renowned Australian portrait photographer and YouTuber Julia Trotti as they dive into discussions on the future of visual storytelling. Join expert panels diving into the future of the creator economy, building a sustainable creative career and levelling up your social media game.  But this isn’t just about watching from the sidelines, Frmefest is built for doing. Step into immersive, cinematic sets to shoot real-world scenarios, get hands-on with gear from Canon, Camera House, Fujifilm, Sony, Nikon, Lumix, OM System, Blackmagic Design and more, and compete in live competitions with over $50,000+ in prizes up for grabs. Prices start at $179 but if you book with our exclusive code TIMEOUT30 you can score a hefty discount. Be quick because tickets are closing soon. Explore...

In musical theatre circles, Cats is the show that everyone loves to hate, dismissing it as “weird” and “uncool”. So let me begin this review by stating that I love Cats. I listened to the cast recording over and over as a child, I met my best friend on a Cats mailing list (remember those?) when I was sixteen, and there's probably still some old Cats fanfiction floating around out there that I wrote in my teens. This much maligned show doesn't deserve the hate it gets.  When Cats was first performed in the early 1980s, it was hailed as groundbreaking, bridging the gap between concept musicals and mega musicals in a way no show had done before. It won both Olivier and Tony awards for best musical, and ran for decades on the West End and Broadway. These days, it’s viewed more as a “guilty pleasure” – the show you secretly enjoy but are supposed to pretend you don’t, lest you be seen as uncultured. But why? Concept musicals based around a theme rather than a traditional narrative have existed since the 1950s, with notable examples including Cabaret, Hair and Company. Dance-heavy musicals are also not a unique concept. Cats isn't even the only show to combine these two elements. But while shows like A Chorus Line and Pippin are hailed as iconic, Cats – which is essentially A Chorus Line with tails – is not shown the same love.  Cats may not be too heavy on the plot, but it’s a show for people who love the little details Much of the criticism surrounding Cats comes from wanting...

Need a new profile pic? We’ve got you.  One of the world’s biggest immersive experiences has just landed in the Harbour City – serving up a fun, surreal backdrop for your Instagram grid glow-up . Bubble Planet: An Immersive Experience is open now at Paddington Pavilion, Sydney Olympic Park, offering Sydneysiders a transporting, ultra-Instagrammable experience. Already experienced by more than two million visitors around the world, with sell-out runs in Milan, Los Angeles, London and Brussels, Bubble Planet is a fantastical world of optical illusions, cutting-edge virtual reality experiences, giant bubbles, and next-level immersive projections. Visitors to the Sydney site can expect to embark on a dreamlike journey through more than 10 otherworldly rooms, home to giant bubble domes, LED underwater-style wonderlands, selfie hubs and VR dreamscapes.  Almost 10,000 tickets were sold ahead of the official opening, so we expect this one will be another sell-out run for the people who brought the incredible immersive Van Gogh experience to Sydney back in 2020. Session at this bizarre immersive world run for between 60-90 minutes, and the experience is suitable for people of all ages – with kids under four welcomed in for free. Keen? You can learn more and snap up tickets over here.    Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, things to do and travel inspo, straight to your inbox. RECOMMENDED: Want more activity inspo? Here’s what’s on in...

In France, Bastille Day is a day of revolution and feisty celebrations. In Sydney, it’s about all that too – but also, cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. In this year’s case it's also about cabaret shows, wine tours, acrobatics displays and a lot of live music. Vive la révolution! The four-day line-up of fêtes and activités will be unfolding beneath the banner of the Bastille Festival, a free, four-day celebration of the diverse culinary and cultural regions of France, whose major festival takeover of Sydney’s foreshore will be happening across The Rocks to Circular Quay, from Thursday, July 17 until Sunday, July 20.Unsurprisingly, foodies are especially well catered for here – expect French street-food favourites like raclette (melted, grilled cheese heaven), fresh crêpes, garlic-loaded escargot, umami-as-anything saucisson, and a selection of the nation’s most beloved cheeses. With more than 120 exhibitors and over 80 dishes on offer at this year’s fest, Sydneysiders can take a culinary tour of the land of love without leaving the 2000 postcode.  On top of all the food-based festivities, you can enjoy a tour of France's most reputable wine regions, all of which can be found around Circular Quay as part of the Bastille Wine Walk. The celebrations will be soundtracked by a gloriously French line-up of entertainment: with 100 free shows popping up around the Sydney foreshore over the span of four days. Dance classes, jazz shows, live acrobatics displays are among the...

Sydney’s Darling Harbour is turning to ice. No, the great big body of water that surrounds our city hasn't hit sub-zero temperatures (although you’d be forgiven for thinking it has based on recent weather) but rather an ice skating rink has arrived in town. Have you always wanted to try a triple axel? Or maybe Home Alone 2 is your favourite cosy movie thanks to the Rockefeller Centre ice skating rink. Well, now is your chance to live out those dreams under our very own city skyline.  If you’re looking for a date night idea or something to occupy (read: tire out)  the kids then this is just the ticket for you. From Saturday, June 28 until Sunday, July 20, you can head on down to the harbourside precinct to strap on the skates and glide like a majestic penguin – or clamber around like Bambi on ice. Knee pads aren’t included, so it might be wise to wear a thick pair of pants to cushion any falls.  Once you’ve had your dash on the rink you may be ready to grab a bite to eat or rest your weary legs. Thankfully, Darling Harbour is within walking distance of plenty of Sydney’s very best restaurants and most delightful cheap eats.  If you love to romanticise winter, skating beneath the lights of Sydney’s CBD towers sounds like the perfect way to lean into the cooler months. The rink is open daily from 10am until 9pm at the Palm Grove Forecourt, and skating costs $28 per adult, $20 for children and $15 for toddlers. Skating penguins can be booked for an extra $10 to keep the little...

Mother-daughter relationships can be complicated even under the best of circumstances. When you add adoption, a language barrier, and years of estrangement into the mix – well, you get more baggage than a flight from Sydney to Seoul.  You may be familiar with Michelle Lim Davidson from both the stage (The Feather in the Web) and screen (The Newsreader, Utopia, Play School). In Koreaboo, her moving playwriting debut presented by Griffin Theatre Company in association with Belvoir St Theatre, Davidson draws on her own life to investigate the complexities of intercountry adoption, and the precarious experience shared by many adopted children – living caught between two very different cultures, but feeling like they belong to neither.  Davidson plays Hannah, a 30-something-year-old woman who was adopted from Korea as a baby and grew up in Newcastle. After a break-up, she travels to Korea to spend time with her biological mother, Umma (Heather Jeong). Hannah’s plan is to spend time getting to know the woman whose love she’s longed for since before she can remember. She offers to help Umma at the family’s convenience mart, and Umma reluctantly agrees. It’s not until they discover a shared love of K-pop and performing that Umma’s walls start falling down, and Hannah really gets to know her Sex-and-the-City-quoting, Turtle-Chip-eating Umma.  Jeong portrays the cheeky, sassy, larger-than-life Umma with apparent ease, and her command of movement, language and voice is a strong...

Australia’s most popular arts event is back in action for 2025, with the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes bringing a fresh batch of painterly expressions to the walls of the Art Gallery of NSW from May 10 to August 17.  They call it “the face that stops the nation”, and the Archibald Prize has indeed been courting controversy and conversation for more than a century now. This popular portrait prize is always filled with famous faces, with artists from all over Australia (and also New Zealand) capturing the spirit of the times through paintings that capture the likeness of the personalities that define their communities. Julie Fragar is the winner of the 2025 Archibald Prize – she won over the judges with a stunning portrait of fellow artist Justene Williams (read more). RECOMMENDED: A beginner's guide to the Archibald Prize. The winner of the 2025 Packing Room Prize was announced a week earlier, with the Packing Room Pickers (a.k.a. the Art Gallery staff who receive, unpack and hang the entries) selecting Abdul Abdullah's striking painting of fellow finalist Jason Phu as their favourite Archibald portrait this year (read more here). Meanwhile, the Wynne Prize awards the best landscape painting of Australian scenery or figurative sculpture, and the Sulman is awarded to the best genre painting, subject painting or mural project. (Find out more about the 2025 winners over here.) The annual finalists exhibition is a real must-see, with each prize attracting diverse entries...

Considering that when Luna Park opened in 1935, the only other major attraction in Sydney was the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Art Deco amusement park has long been a significant site for the city – an important destination for escapism, especially considering it opened during the Depression. Although new rides have cropped up over the years, the heritage-listed park has retained a lot of its original features – which is why there was a lot of hype when Luna Park announced that it would be opening a brand-new, first-of-its kind, high-tech attraction back in late 2023. After a bumper first season, Dream Circus – the immersive experience created right here by a bunch of talented Sydney creatives and technicians – is back.  This week, Luna Park swung open the doors to a high-tech ‘Magic Box’ inside the existing 3,000 square metre Big Top building – a venue for the immersive adventure that is ‘Dream Circus’. Time Out got a sneak peek at Dream Circus before opening day, and we have to say, it’s hard to sum up in a few sentences what you’re in for. It’s part-3D movie, where actors take you on an adventure through the circus, to the seaside, underwater and into magical dream-like states. It’s part-musical, except that the action envelops you on three sides of the room, as well as the floor and ceiling. It’s a little like a Van Gogh Alive or Frida Kahlo multi-sensory exhibition, except that rather than images being projected onto flat wall and floor surfaces, the set is built with...